Genetics startup 23andMe raises $50 million Series D funding round

23andMe, the genetics startup founded in 2006 to help consumers understand their genetic information, announced Tuesday that it’s raised a $50 million Series D funding round from new investor Yuri Milner as well as existing investors to in hopes of reaching one million customers. Currently, the service has 180,000 customers, and it is immediately lowering the price of its Personal Genome Service to $99.

23andMe’s Personal Genome Service gives consumers the opportunity to understand their ancestry and genetic makeup, and it gives the company the chance to create a database of genetic information. By increasing the number of customers to one million, the company would have a larger database that would “enable groundbreaking research by creating an exponentially larger collective of actively engaged, genotyped individuals,” the company wrote in a press release.

The company also noted that the funding will allow it to “expand the necessary infrastructure to support growth in its research and operational capabilities, including product development, genetic research, software development, recruitment and marketing.”